Taco Cabana. Renovation. I went by to investigate.

Last week the Fort Worth Taco Cabanas had a kind of grand re-opening. Restaurants had been renovated and the menu updated -- so I decided to try it out. Here's a summary of my visit.

The renovation. Great job. Loved the two-toned wood tables and chairs, brushed steel on counter spaces, and lighting. One HDTV. Very comfortable, clean, and easy on the eye.

The menu. "Out" are those really bad pictures of Tex Mex platters. "In" is simplified ordering. It's got kind of a Chipotle look to it instead of old Burger King.

All that is good.

The food itself. I ordered the two fajita lunch for $6.50. The tortillas are made on-site and delicious, the fajita beef was tasty and good but something is lost when it is not sizzling from a pan. I had assumed beans and rice would be served with the fajitas but chips accompanied them instead. That was disappointing. Then again, I could have actually read the menu. The salsa and condiments island is good, clean, and well stocked. I have always liked their salsa island. Fresh cilantro helps.

A little serving of rice or a small bowl of charro beans would have made the meal much better and not added much to their cost. Two moderately portioned fajitas with a handful of chips for $6.50 is not a bad deal but probably not enough to make it my lunch spot of choice.

One other change to the Taco Cabana method is the roving server. Ordering is done at the counter but a server brings the meal to the table and asks if more drinks and chips are needed. I liked it except the girl, even given her friendliness, came back four or five times during a twenty minute meal. I know one man's helpfulness is another man's annoying helpfulness, but this seemed overdone to me. Yes, we did leave a small tip.

Free offer: Taco Cabana is offering free chicken fajita tacos on Tuesday, August 3, from 4-9 pm., and half-priced nachos and $1.50 margaritas during happy hour. (one free taco per customer, in-restaurant only)

There are about a half-dozen Taco Cabanas in the Fort Worth area. I visited the one on I-35 around Seminary. Here’s a link:  http://www.tacocabana.com/locator/
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Update two weeks later:
Editor's note: I went back a second time and asked for the dinner which included rice and beans, same price, and it was excellent. Great value. I will go back.

Groupon and Habenero's Mexican

Marian and I made our virgin voyage into Groupon coupons tonight.  She paid $12.50 for a $25 dining coupon to be used at Habenero's Fresh Mexican Cantina. The coupon purchase and use was seamless. We printed the coupon and presented it to the waitress when were seated. It worked perfectly.

That is the end of this evening's good report.

What can I say good about Habenero's Fresh Mexican Cantina? First, it's more in the sports-bar-meets-Mexican-food category. Big space, lots of TV's and large bar area. I liked that part.

As far as the food, I ordered the taco dinner and the taco's shredded beef was plentiful in portion and very tasty. But the flour tortilla tasted like it had been just pulled from the package in the fridge. It was tasteless and cold. Beans and rice come with the dinners and they weren't bad, but neither the rice or the beans were served hot. Lukewarm black beans are just not very tasty.

The guacamole. I have always assumed that guacamole was made from avocados. I guess I was wrong. I'm not sure what we were served, it was green and it had a little tang to it. But it was god-awful. The serve-yourself chips were very greasy and the hot sauce tasted more like shrimp-cocktail sauce. The occasional green and red tortilla chip mixed in with the other chips only confirms to me that the emphasis is on style not substance. Why ruin a good tortilla chip with food coloring?

I have an idea for the Habenero's people, and I'm being serious about this: if you're going to use Groupon as a promo service to get people to try your restaurants, serve the fresh food your website advertises.

Marian and I like to try new places and enjoyed the evening in spite of not caring for the food. Maybe they just had a bad night. The 50% off Groupon helped.

Habenero's: http://www.habanerosfreshmex.com/

...

Sundance Square to be Backdrop for ESPN Superbowl Coverage

It appears that congratulations is due Downtown Fort Worth and Sundance Square for being selected as hosts for the 80 hours of ESPN Super Bowl Broadcasting. Here's the report from KRLD:

The Cowboys Stadium won’t be the only North Texas landmark getting a lot of camera time for the upcoming Super Bowl.  Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncreif is expected to announce this morning that ESPN has chosen Sundance Square to be the backdrop for all of it’s Super Bowl week coverage.  80 hours of coverage will be broadcast internationally on the network from the Sundance Square shopping and entertainment district.  The well-known Chisolm Trail mural will be prominently featured from January 31st up to game day on February 6th.  Business owners in Sundance Square are cheering, because although it’ll probably be pretty cold, the attention of the outdoor studio is expected to bring a lot of people into their shops and restaurants. Many other cities have been chosen to host various events surrounding the big game, including Dallas and Irving.  Planning is now in the final stages, because Super Bowl 45 is only 200 days away.

KRLD link: http://bit.ly/dyYzR7

The Best Websites for Bargain Hunters.

 
This is not me -->

I'm not a big shopper. One of the side benefits of the internet is that I no longer have to set foot in a shopping mall, which to me, is a kind of hell with sky-lights. Nowadays, everything I need that malls have can be purchased on-line.

Nor can I say that I am a committed bargain hunter, I don't remember ever using a coupon, though I understand why people do. I think I'm more of a loyalty shopper, but like everyone, I like to find a good deal -- which includes a low price.

The Kiplinger Newsletter people had a very helpful summary of "Best Deal" websites that I spent a good deal of time looking at yesterday.

Sites on lowest price, like Dealio.com, which compares prices on 30 million products from 100,000 merchants. And coupon sites, like RetailMeNot who offers coupons from more than 40,000 stores and a community where you can get tips and deal info from others. Then there were the "hot deals" sites like DealsOfAmerica, which updates deals every hour. The Kiplinger article also listed gift card sites, rebate sites, and of course iphone and Droid app suggestions.

Anyway, if you are interested in bargain hunting, I enjoyed the information and found it useful: Kiplinger.com

Food related -- I thought this hand espresso maker looked pretty cool for $18. Found here: http://bit.ly/c9JdcL

(Maybe I should add that I do not have any connection, financial or otherwise, with any of the websites or products.)

A Brownstone Review.

Guest post by Sunni R.

I arrived at Brownstone before my dinner companions so I headed over to ask the bartender what sort of fun, new drinks they were serving. He recommended a Dark and Stormy, but I don't do rum, so I chose the Ginger Collins.  I love fresh ginger and lemon, but the Ginger Collins was too strongly flavored for my taste. Full disclosure:  I'm not much of a mixed drink aficionado so take my cocktail reviews with a grain of salt.

The Brownstone dinner menu has several categories and I'm sure the specific items will change frequently due to the restaurant's commitment to use local, seasonal ingredients as much as possible.  My two friends and I began our meal with a house salad.  Two of us chose the Buttermilk Dill Vinaigrette and I chose the Bacon Red Onion Vinaigrette.  We were all pleased and agreed that the little cornbread squares mixed in the salad like croutons were the best part.  For dinner we wanted to sample multiple menu items so we ordered three of the "Plates to Share" and one entree. Here is what we ordered:

• Kobe Beef Cheeks over spoonbread:  picture the best pot roast you have ever had over the fluffiest hybrid of mashed potatoes and cornbread.  Highly Recommend
• Chicken Livers with Pepper Sauce:  Heavy but good if you like chicken livers.  Not my favorite
• Pork and Peppers: Very rich (pork belly) but great.  The little stuffed peppers combined with the pork belly made a good bite. Recommend
• Quail Ravioli: Large ravioli stuffed with a fairly flavorful quail mixture but it fell flat to me.  Not my favorite

I wish we had selected the Biscuits, Preserves and Venison Sausage. I spied another table enjoying it and it looked great. One of the sides available was Waffle Fries with Mayonnaise.  First, gross.  Second, the Gorgonzola Waffle Fries thing is being done (and well) on Magnolia at Lili's right? 

Service: Prompt, pretty good if a little "familiar" in tone which bugged me a bit. Brownstone is new and has kinks to work out and that is understandable. 

Scene:  tastefully decorated, comfortable, kind of loud even while not super crowded, bathrooms on the verge of being too dark  It has occurred to me that it would be funny for people to guess my age based on this portion of the review, but another "old person" comment from someone in their '30's. Can we all please agree to try something besides jeans every once in a while?  I love jeans but I miss getting dressed up for dinner and it bugs me to feel overdressed so I need a group effort here.  Thanks in advance for your assistance in this matter.

We came away from this experience with mixed feelings. The plates to share are similar to tapas -- it's a fun concept and they are priced well.  The entrees are reasonably priced but the selection was beef heavy with only one fish option (no vegetarian options either).  As I said earlier in the review, the menu is bound to change frequently so it remains to be seen if the concept will fly and if they can build a following with all the competition in town.  Would we return?  Tough question.  My gut instinct says that Ellerbe's is doing the same thing with better food, but I have only been there once.  I would love for someone else who has visited both Ellerbe's and Brownstone to weigh in with an opinion. Thanks.

Brownstone Restaurants

840 Currie St.
Ft. Worth, TX 76107
817.332.1555

Brownstone Restaurants 

Patrizio's. Finally.

Here's the deal.

I can be kind of picky about Italian food, at least, the pasta, spaghetti sauce, pizza variety of Italian food. I can't help it. I grew up with grand-pop's home-made spaghetti, lasagna, ravioli, and sauce, so it's hard for me to eat-out Italian and walk away happy.

But I had heard good things about Patrizio's and the good wife wanted to try it. So we did last night.

The good news. The pizza was very good. For people who like thin, crispy pizza, I think only Cavalli's in Irving is better.* Patrizio's is better than Rocco's, in my opinion. It is very good. I had the cheese pizza with pepperoni.

Marian ordered the meat-layered lasagna. I'd put the lasagna in the not very good category. First, it was served warm-to-hot, but lasagna needs to be served very hot. The tomato sauce is very ordinary, but to be fair there wasn't much sauce added, and the pasta was over-cooked to an almost texture-less like quality. I can forgive differences in taste but a lukewarm plate and over-cooked pasta is just bad planning or execution. Sorry.

Service: great. We did go early to beat the crowd (and no it wasn't Mr.Seinfeld early) .

Atmosphere: I liked it. New building, clean lines, not ornate, but not just four walls, either.

Buzz at the bar: Good. Busy, but not packed

My only other complaint. If you serve a basket of complimentary bread to the table, make sure it's fresh. Our first basket was down right stale and the second basket, brought without our requesting it, wasn't much better. I have a suggestion and a promise. Serve me a basket of fresh, warm rolls when I am seated and I will be happy no matter what is served after that. Seriously. At an Italian restaurant, I want to smell the bread.

Conclusion: I will go back for the pizza. That is a good pizza-pie.

Patrizio's has five locations and is moderately priced.

Patrizio's
2932 Crockett St., Fort Worth
871-698-0003
http://www.patrizios.net/ 

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* Footnote: Even though I'm mad at Cavalli's for putting their second store in McKinney, not Fort Worth, it's still the best pie in DFW. But McKinney, why the hell would you choose that nothing Dallas suburb over Fort Worth?

Three Random Thoughts.

I frequently see the word Yum or Yummy on Twitter food-related posts. Appropriately, from female posters. If you are a man and you use the word Yum, you need to stop. Seriously.

I hear the following phrase a few times a year: "You have two choices, you can either do X or Y." Shouldn't the statement be, "You have A choice, you can either do X or Y." Doesn't the word choice imply an option of at least two possibilities? Why two choices instead of a choice?

Everyone needs to stop using the contracted word, veggies, for the real word, vegetables. It was okay for a while, now it's just annoying. I am starting to get nauseated when I hear or read the word, veggies.

That's it, you may continue with what you were doing.

Patrizio's (almost), La Familia and a Stroll along 7th Street.

I have been wanting to go to Patrizio's. My son had spoken highly of their Dallas location and had brought home some pasta from a visit to their restaurant on 7th. It was very tasty and had the texture of fresh, not dried pasta. I was intrigued. But he warned me, "they just opened, and the service was bad, worse than bad." I heard the same from one other person. Good food, bad service. I still wanted to try it.

Saturday night we did, or almost did. We knew it would be crowded and it was. 30 - 60 minute wait. We signed up, walked around a bit, and at thirty minutes checked in to see how much longer, "at least another 30 minutes," said the hostess. I had been watching the outdoor diners and there were way too many tables without food, so I bailed. We walked up to La Familia. Good food, great service, very friendly people.

I'll return to Patrizio's. I'm not bashing them for what I have heard about the service, or the wait, it's new and it was Saturday night. Your opinion and comments would be appreciated here.

7th Street is hopping, though. W7th has got it going on. Fred's was doing well. As was Baileys, Pachuigo, Sweet Sammies, and everybody but Brownstone. They looked kind of slow. But it's hard to tell with them because all the seating is inside.

What is most interesting to me is all the development behind the W7th buildings. Fred's has got to be loving all the new attention. But also a place called the Backyard at Capital Bar, Poag Mahone's, and a few other bars were doing well.

7th Street is growing in all directions, with more to come. We did walk up to La Familia from Patrizio's, and I hope the city can somehow make 7th more pedestrian and bicycle friendly from the river to University. As Kevin Buchanan at FortWorthology suggests, take out a car lane each way, add a bike lane and a wide sidewalk. Make crossing the street easy, which it is not, right now.

How much development can the Fort Worth take?  No one knows, of course, but I love the kind of funky, warehouse conversions behind 7th, and I especially hope they do well.

July 4, 1776

The American colonies had been under the rule of Great Britain for one-hundred fifty years. Virginia, Massachusetts, Delaware, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Connecticut, Georgia, New Hampshire, North and South Carolina, and New Jersey.

What right did these colonies have to break the bonds that joined them to England?

That was the debate in the 1770's. And it was discussed by everyone, from farm laborer to governor; it was discussed everywhere, in public houses and churches, in the newspapers, political tracts, and in sermon. The discussion was heated yes, but it was thoughtful, and as much as is possible, for people as disgruntled as they, tempered by the prudence of their leaders.

But the grievances with King George's rule were mounting. Entreaties to the King by the Continental Congress had been ignored. Taxes were growing more burdensome. At the same time colonial identities were emerging. There were now two and one-half million people living in the colonies. They may have been a backwater territory in the eyes of the Europeans, but the American pioneer was making a name for himself.

Do we, the governed, have a lawful right to separate from them, the Governors?

The Second Continental Congress, the representatives from these thirteen colonies, agreed that we did, indeed, that we must sever those bonds. The political document stating the justification of that opinion was ratified on July 4. The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, or the Declaration of Independence. The Revolutionary War had begun between the colonials and mother England about one year prior. This document was, in effect, crossing a river with no way of return.

Fifty-six men would sign that Declaration that day, thoughtfully and soberly. The signers knew the financial and personal risk. Lives would be lost, lands would be forfeited, and the outcome was uncertain. Opposition to an organized, disciplined and experienced English military was almost foolhardy. The new states had not one ship to call a navy, few uniformed soldiers, no national treasury, not even a nation in the proper sense. But they had a few good men, a good cause, maybe even Providence -- and certainly one exceptional military leader in George Washington, without whose leadership, moral as well as tactical, we would have certainly been defeated.

The political union of these states was some eight years away. But the American Experiment officially started on this day, July 4, 1776. And the first American contribution to the discourse on freedom begins here:

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,

Read and compare drafts:
http://www.ushistory.org/Declaration/

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For a very helpful and complete list of fireworks in the entire Dallas - Fort Worth area go to the Frugal in Forth Worth weblog.